Khaleej Times Online
(AFP)
2 March 2009
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge court does not have enough money to pay its local staff this month, a leading judge said on Monday following corruption claims that have made donors wary.
Just as proceedings have started against leaders from the 1975-1979 regime, Kong Srim, who heads the Khmer Rouge tribunal's supreme court chamber, told a plenary session that donations have dried up for Cambodian staff salaries
It appears trials will still go ahead, but donors have hesitated to give cash to the Cambodian side of the court after claims of political interference and a scandal in which local staff were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Under a complicated hybrid tribunal agreement, Cambodian and international staff have separate budgets funded via pledges from countries including Japan, France, Australia, Germany and the United States.
"Unfortunately the national side of the court will not have sufficient funds for the staff salaries for this month," Kong Srim told local and international judicial officials in an opening speech.
"I see this as our most important challenge, as it hardly seems reasonable for judicial officers and staff to be expected to continue working without remuneration."
Kong Srim said he was confident the problem would be resolved soon, after recent meetings between the Cambodian government and the United Nations.
Tribunal judge Silvia Cartwright from New Zealand said international judges at the court encouraged the talks in an effort to crack down on corruption.
"As we all know, the problems mentioned by His Excellency Kong Srim concerning funding can be resolved once the international community is confident of a corruption-free environment in which to hold trials," she said.
"International judges have said clearly and repeatedly that they will not allow corruption to interfere with the tribunal's delivery of justice for the people of Cambodia," she added.
Local media meanwhile reported Monday that defence lawyers have asked the court to interview Prime Minister Hun Sen, former king Norodom Sihanouk and other current leaders about links with the 1975-1979 regime.
The English-language Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post said the request was made by lawyers for former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, who is scheduled to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Confidential court documents leaked to the newspapers said they also asked for testimony from senate president Chea Sim and national assembly president Heng Samrin about their service to the regime in the late 1970s.
"The above-named individuals are likely in possession of documents and information relevant to the pending judicial investigation," the Phnom Penh Post reported, quoting the request.
All the leaders named in the document at one time played roles in the Khmer Rouge, but left the regime before it was ousted in 1979 and deny participation in atrocities which killed up to two million people.
The request was filed by Nuon Chea's Dutch co-defence lawyers, his Cambodian attorney Son Arun told AFP, adding they partners would file a complaint at the court to investigate "the leak of the documents."
Former "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried for killing up to a quarter of Cambodia's population through overwork, starvation and execution in a bid for a communist utopia.
The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial began last month when the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, went before the court.
Court monitors say the tribunal's independence will again be tested when judges rule whether to pursue more suspects, after the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed opening investigations into several more former cadres.
(AFP)
2 March 2009
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge court does not have enough money to pay its local staff this month, a leading judge said on Monday following corruption claims that have made donors wary.
Just as proceedings have started against leaders from the 1975-1979 regime, Kong Srim, who heads the Khmer Rouge tribunal's supreme court chamber, told a plenary session that donations have dried up for Cambodian staff salaries
It appears trials will still go ahead, but donors have hesitated to give cash to the Cambodian side of the court after claims of political interference and a scandal in which local staff were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
Under a complicated hybrid tribunal agreement, Cambodian and international staff have separate budgets funded via pledges from countries including Japan, France, Australia, Germany and the United States.
"Unfortunately the national side of the court will not have sufficient funds for the staff salaries for this month," Kong Srim told local and international judicial officials in an opening speech.
"I see this as our most important challenge, as it hardly seems reasonable for judicial officers and staff to be expected to continue working without remuneration."
Kong Srim said he was confident the problem would be resolved soon, after recent meetings between the Cambodian government and the United Nations.
Tribunal judge Silvia Cartwright from New Zealand said international judges at the court encouraged the talks in an effort to crack down on corruption.
"As we all know, the problems mentioned by His Excellency Kong Srim concerning funding can be resolved once the international community is confident of a corruption-free environment in which to hold trials," she said.
"International judges have said clearly and repeatedly that they will not allow corruption to interfere with the tribunal's delivery of justice for the people of Cambodia," she added.
Local media meanwhile reported Monday that defence lawyers have asked the court to interview Prime Minister Hun Sen, former king Norodom Sihanouk and other current leaders about links with the 1975-1979 regime.
The English-language Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post said the request was made by lawyers for former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, who is scheduled to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Confidential court documents leaked to the newspapers said they also asked for testimony from senate president Chea Sim and national assembly president Heng Samrin about their service to the regime in the late 1970s.
"The above-named individuals are likely in possession of documents and information relevant to the pending judicial investigation," the Phnom Penh Post reported, quoting the request.
All the leaders named in the document at one time played roles in the Khmer Rouge, but left the regime before it was ousted in 1979 and deny participation in atrocities which killed up to two million people.
The request was filed by Nuon Chea's Dutch co-defence lawyers, his Cambodian attorney Son Arun told AFP, adding they partners would file a complaint at the court to investigate "the leak of the documents."
Former "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried for killing up to a quarter of Cambodia's population through overwork, starvation and execution in a bid for a communist utopia.
The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial began last month when the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, went before the court.
Court monitors say the tribunal's independence will again be tested when judges rule whether to pursue more suspects, after the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed opening investigations into several more former cadres.
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